Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Creative Illustration To Be Reprinted

Thanks to an anonymous commenter in the previous posting here, I learned that Andrew Loomis's landmark art instruction book Creative Illustration is going to be reprinted this coming September in paperback. On Amazon.com, the price is an amazingly low $13.57. I'm curious to see if the reprint will include the colour pages, but even if the book is not complete (and at 300 pages I'm guessing that it is), this is a major bargain as well as a major event. If you draw or are interested in drawing, this is easily one of the best art instruction books ever published.

Update: Lars asked in the comments what it was about Loomis that made him so great. I find his art very appealing. In addition, he is excellent at communicating artistic principles through his diagrams, drawings and text.

Creative Illustration is broken into the following sections: Line, Tone, Color, Telling the Story, Creating Ideas, Fields of Illustration and Experiment and Study. Below are some pages from the book that I hope will give you a taste of Loomis's skill and approach.

It's a warm and comfortable feeling when someone else can appreciate the loomis collection. Funny I've just finished blabering on about Creative Illustration earlier today. I'm glad someone is publishing this book, its always been my fear that these books would be lost. So glad to see it in print. ---------------------------------What makes loomis so great is its such an easy read. In terms of writing it really trims the fat, direct and precise writing. When your a struggle artist stumbling across the collection is a life send.--------------------P.S. another site i found don't know if its the same publisher listed in the link kenspublishing

Thanx for posting some more info on Loomis. He really is a very inspiring teacher which just focusses on the bare essentials of drawing. Is the book therefore more a work of assesment and appreciation and giving handles to an artist or is it like Betty Edwards book also analytical?

I have a printed out version of Loomis' book "Figure Drawing for All it's Worth" since the used books go for up to £100 here in the UK. If they are releasing this book for under 20 dollars US, it will be, indeed, a true bargain.

I've had my eye on this one for a while, but I'm sad to see that it is not available... Why can't they just print the darn thing.. whoever owns the rights isn't getting any kickbacks from the private sellers at $250+ a whack!....

About Me

I've worked as an animator, writer, producer and director in TV animation for 29 years. I created the cgi series Monster By Mistake.
I hold a Masters degree from York University in Cinema and Media Studies and am currently teaching animation at Sheridan College.
I can be contacted at mark(dot)mayerson(at)sheridanc(dot)on(dot)ca.